LUBBOCK, Texas (May 6, 2018) – Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. has announced the creation of a new committee for diversity, equity and inclusion. Responding to larger trends in the country’s social environment, the organization aims to safeguard its sisterhood experience for all current and future members.

The organization is taking a stand against discrimination to provide the best space for its membership and hopes that others in the fraternity and sorority community will do the same.

“Together, we can nurture a sisterhood of sisters supporting each other for generations to come,” said the founders of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority in a unified statement.

Three things we can all do to honor Black History Month in February and beyond

1) Support Black Authors

Children’s books, young adult, novels, the gift of literature pays back in leaps and bounds. Not only are you supporting the author but you share the art of storytelling, especially theirs. You don’t have to just purchase books for your own collection, donate to local schools and libraries. Volunteer to read to children or senior citizens in your community. Some books to look up:

For Immediate ReleaseContact: Alicia Bustillos, VP of Public Affairs[email protected]

November 1, 2017 – Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. is proud to announce the assignment of key roles within its Board of Directors. The board annually assesses performance and internally appoints roles to ensure continued development of the organization and its members. Current appointments are as follows:

Akisha Hernandez, Chair/Vice Chair of Finance

Naomi Vásquez Chapa, Vice Chair

Marrisa Ramirez-Ramos, Recorder

Rosie Stewart, At-Large Member

Paula Arno Martinez, At-Large Member

Cynthia Esparza-Figueros, At-Large Member

“I am excited to work with the Board of Directors in the new year. These role changes, along with the newly appointed sisters joining the board, will undoubtedly help to propel our strategic direction,” said Melanie Rodriguez, KDChi president. These sisters bring a wide variety of experience and knowledge and will be a tremendous asset to the BOD as we move forward into a new year of exciting challenges and growth.

For Immediate Release September 3rd, 2017Contact: Alicia Bustillos, Vice President of Public Affairs [email protected]

Hurricane Harvey is currently projected to strengthen as it makes its way towards landfall along the Texas Coast sometime this weekend.

For all our sisters who may be affected, please connect with your local authorities to understand potential impact for your respective locations, and prepare yourselves accordingly.

A few safety tips:

Get Prepared: Take action now to be prepared for hurricane season. As the storm approaches, it is often too late to get ready. Make sure you have family evacuation and communications plans, update your emergency supply kit and evaluate your flood insurance needs.

Know your zone. Evacuations are more common than people realize. Make yourself familiar with your community's evacuation zones, so you'll know exactly where to go.

Remember: if a hurricane threatens your community and local officials say it's time to evacuate, don't hesitate -- go early.

Complete a family communication plan. Plan how you will assemble your family and loved ones, and anticipate where you will go for different situations. Get together with your family and agree on the ways to contact one another in an emergency, identify meeting locations, and make a Family Emergency Communication Plan.

Download the FEMA app. The FEMA App includes disaster resources, weather alerts, safety tips, and a new feature that will enable users to receive push notifications to their devices to prepare.

Keep your devices charged up, so that you have a way of contacting family & friends and they have a way to contact you.

TAMUCC has confirmed its evacuation and is providing buses to surrounding cities. TAMIU is welcoming students from its sister campus in Corpus Christi and providing refuge from the Hurricane.Emergency contact information:If you have not confirmed your location with a sister, please contact Regional Director - Maggy Solis (832) 620-4567, who lives in Houston or District Chair 16 - Jessica Saavedra (956) 467-7039, who lives in Corpus Christi.

Unofficial reports are stating President Trump plans to end DACA, with a six-month delay. At this moment we do not know what this means, but we do know Congress must move quickly to protect DREAMers (DACA recipients). We call upon the administration to thoroughly assess the consequences this action will have on many of the brightest minds in our country. They are individuals who are leading the way academically, are contributing to our society and economy, and are proud Americans.

KDChi Pi Chapter earns the UT-Austin Community Building Award

Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Inc. is proud to announce that the KDChi Pi Chapter at the University of Texas at Austin has earned the Chapter Community Building Award at the 11th Annual Evening of the Stars Award Reception. This ceremony honors outstanding achievements of student leaders and organizations at the University.

The Chapter Community Building Award recognizes the chapter that displays a genuine effort in building community among its own members and across the sorority and fraternity population. Consideration was given to sisterhood or brotherhood events, alumni relations, chapter retreats, and efforts to build community beyond the organizational level.

We were notified of the honor by the Office of Sorority and Fraternity Life at UT Austin and celebrate KDChi Pi Chapter's consistently giving back to the community. Please click on over to their website to learn more about this chapter.

Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. is a Latina founded, 501 c 7, national sorority who aims to achieve professional development, academic excellence, and graduation of all its members; an organization dedicated to community service to their local university communities with an emphasis on the Hispanic/Latino population.

To learn more about our sisterhood, please visit KappaDeltaChi.org or engage with us @KDChi.

Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc.'s Beta Pi Chapter at the University of North Texas - Dallas is setting the bar for service and community involvement on campus with its mentorship program at Inspired Vision Secondary School. The women of Kappa Delta Chi recently spoke to the young ladies at Inspired Vision about college readiness and time management. Their sorority’s goal is to motivate these young women and allow them to see that college is possible regardless of circumstance.

Robin Wheeler, an educator at Inspired Vision Secondary School, reached out to the Kappa Delta Chi Sorority at UNT Dallas in hopes of beginning a mentoring partnership aimed at providing additional encouragement for the young ladies of the ‘BFF Club’ to pursue a higher education. The sorority not only agreed to provide the girls at IVSS with a mentoring program, they also decided to set up a scholarship fund to provide assistance and encouragement to their new mentees.

“This wonderful group of college girls “adopted” our BFF Club girls to help mentor and inspire them to pursue further education after high school,” Wheeler said. “We cannot thank them enough for all that they have done and are continuing to do for us.” ~ Robin Wheeler

“We spoke to the ladies about first year college survival and time management,” said senior Erika Navarrete, Sargent-at-Arms Officer of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. “The girls had their eyes lit up and were on the edge of their seats. I felt my adrenaline and heart pump. I was so proud of all of my KDChi ladies who spoke from the heart about our experiences. We truly care for these young ladies because many of us are first-generation college students. We want to be that hand to guide these young ladies. We want to encourage and inspire them to apply to college and know what resources they have.”

"Being from the same community as the girls at Inspired Vision high school, I instantly felt the passion for helping and guiding them in things I didn't have an opportunity of knowing when I was in their shoes,” said senior Victoria Ramirez, Vice President of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. “It can be tough to find motivation and inspiration to go get a higher education coming from a first generation home. Also with the distractions in the community, it's important that we focus our attention on these students to show them that there is plenty of help out there to pursue a higher education and achieve their goals. We want to empower them and help them become positive role models for other young ladies.” The ladies of Kappa Delta Chi also have started to raise funds in hopes of providing two $500 scholarships to students at Inspired Vision. The sorority plans to hold fundraisers throughout the year to fund the scholarships. For more information on Kappa Delta Chi, email [email protected]. To see the full article as it was originally published, click here.

Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. is a Latina founded, 501 c 7, national sorority who aims to achieve professional development, academic excellence, and graduation of all its members; an organization dedicated to community service to their local university communities with an emphasis on the Hispanic/Latino population.

To learn more about our sisterhood, please visit KappaDeltaChi.org or engage with us @KDChi.

The Office of Student Engagement (OSE), who coordinated the event, also provided food, music and an upbeat atmosphere with DJ Ronnie Gibson, while over 24 clubs and organizations offered a variety of carnival-style games to start the conversation about their organizations. Various student organizations brought their creativity and uniqueness on display; From Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. doing Henna Tattoos to the Kinesiology Student Association creating their own photo booth. One game presented by Lubos Pilipino-American Student Organization was Tinkling, a traditional folk dance that originates from the Philippines. The dance involves the beating, tapping and sliding of bamboo sticks on the ground, while other students attempted to step over and through the moving bamboo sticks. “It brings a lot of attention to all the organizations, and it kind of gets them aware of the opportunities available to them,” said Rachel Lemon, at her table for Grad Days while handing out cotton candy. One quirky game was Bra Pong presented by students from Sigma Lambda Gamma National Sorority, Inc., who became official sisters this past fall. “One of our National Philanthropies is actually Breast Cancer Awareness, we saw an opportunity today to come out here at the carnival and we just thought that we would provide awareness for our philanthropy while having fun and playing a game,” stated Brittany Smith. “We put the bras on there and we provided some statistics and facts about breast cancer,” continued Smith.

As we near graduation, let's take a look at one of our KDChi sisters who was featured in the UTSA as a commencement student spotlight.

(Dec. 1, 2016) -- Meet Jacquelyn "Jackie" Reyes. She's a first-generation UTSA college student looking to lift others up through service to her community.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Reyes was sure that she would attend college there. She changed her mind during her senior year of high school when she met a UTSA representative at a local college fair who shared the unique opportunities that the university offers its students. "The information that I got from UTSA was different than others. It felt more modern," said Reyes. "Every pamphlet emphasized diversity, showed how unique UTSA's student population is, and that spoke to me."

Reyes enrolled at UTSA in 2012. She was immediately enamored by the diversity of the student population and the many opportunities to get involved at the university.

KDChi just received word that our KDChi Beta Alpha Chapter at the University of Illinois received third place in the Outstanding Scholarship Programming at their annual Greek Oscars ceremony! Way to go ladies and thank you for what you do.

Every year, the Univ of IL and their governing councils recognize chapters on our campus for their outstanding performance in a variety of areas. With a fraternity and sorority community made up 90+ chapters, the chapters we recognize must truly go above and beyond to receive this recognition.

"Our #StudentSpotlight this week is Lizeth Morales (Lichaa Morales). Lichaa an experimental psychology major and is serving as the current president of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority, Inc. She is a member of Latin American Student Organization as well as previously serving as the treasurer for the Multicultural Greek Council. She is a wonderful leader serving her chapter and always working to promote positive change on campus."

Can a KDChi chapter be politically active in a campaign or a political party? A KDChi chapter can be active in voter registration initiatives, and various legislative items, i.e. raising tuition and fees/lowering state assistance to the universities. However, as a chapter and as an agent/representative of Kappa Delta Chi you cannot actively assist in an individual's campaign or a political party's platform. An example of this would be, I as Ruby Alvarado Hernandez, can volunteer for the Green Party and the presidential candidate they have, however I cannot wear KDChi paraphernalia while going door to door to advocate for this candidate, nor can I contact others as a member of Kappa Delta Chi to advocate for a particular candidate or party platform. In addition, I cannot, "as a chapter" of Kappa Delta Chi, endorse a particular candidate or party ticket/platform.

If I'm a KDChi sister who is very passionate about a certain political or environmental cause, are there any restrictions to wearing my letters to participate in a political event?You cannot as an agent/representative of our organization advocate for a particular political party or its candidate(s). This is a time when you can sit back and take a litmus test of sorts. Would someone be able to make the assumption that you are taking a stand for a particular candidate as an agent of our organization if you are wearing our paraphernalia? If the answer is yes, don’t wear the shirt. In situations such as these, one needs to keep in mind why you are wearing letters to such an event, Is it an event that the chapter has voted on to take a stand on (see the political activities policy) or is the shirt you just happened to grab that morning, or are you trying to make a point by showing that you are a member of a Greek Letter Organization? If your chapter has already voted against taking a stand on a particular issue, I would suggest not wearing your letters. Wearing your letters indicates pride in our organization, and although you may have particular political leanings they may not always fall in line with those of the organization or all of its members.

Can KDChi as a national organization or chapters take a partisan stance on issues?As a national organization we have chosen to stand down on certain political issues because we are composed of members from all walks of life with varying beliefs and political leanings. We, as an organization, try to be inclusive of all and taking stances as an organization would restrict us from that. With the aforementioned rules, the national organization is trying to ensure is that we follow IRS regulations to maintain our 501 (c) 7 status. And that status does limit what we can do and who we can and cannot advocate for. That being said there are some issues that our national organization or an individual chapter may want to take a stand against, i.e. raising tuition. There is a procedure in place in the political activities policy (Check memberclicks and your governing documents) where individual chapters can discuss and vote to take a stand on a particular issue. Roberts rules of order apply.

Q- Am I allowed to run for office and serve my community while being an officer of KDChi on a chapter/regional or national level?Yes you can, in fact we've had many sisters serve in their local and statewide legislative boards and who are currently serving on a variety of levels. Keep in mind you are not allowed to use KDChi funds, emails for campaign purposes or resources toward your campaign. Also, you're not allowed to bill KDChi mileage if you're attending a campaign event, just because you met with a chapter there. Also, we have quite the network of sisters, and although you can ask individuals to help with your campaign, chapters and agents/representatives of Kappa Delta Chi cannot campaign for you. So please make sure if sisters are helping you with your campaign there are doing so as individuals and not as members of Kappa Delta Chi.

Q- If I'm a KDChi sister who's interviewed about a cause and I'm wearing my letters or KDChi paraphernalia, what do I have to keep in mind when doing interviews?Often times news reporters appear on campuses, at the mall, even at our places of business, and if you are wearing your KDChi letters you are still more than welcome to answer any questions they may have regarding your own PERSONAL views. Now if they happen to know KDChi is a Latina based sorority and they start asking you something about our stance on i.e. education, immigration, the key would be to make it clear that your responses are your individual views. For instance, you could say "My personal view is..." Don't speak for theorganization or the chapter on an issue unless the NAC/BOD has approved it or the chapter on their own has chosen to take a stance formally on a particular issue.KEEP IN MIND SISTERS the national organization is not trying to prevent our members from being engaged. As passionate, informed women, we encourage all members to stand for what you believe in. Take a look at thepolitical activities policy as it details the organizations limitations for political activities and feelfree to email your BOD Chair [email protected] for any questions.

Kemah, Texas (Dec. 7, 2016) – Kappa Delta Chi Sorority Inc. is mourning the passing of Alpha Epsilon Chapter charter sister Valerie Estrada Campos, 37, who passed on November 17, 2016 from liver complications. Valerie was born on April 15, 1979 and attended Baylor University and studied forensic science. While attending, she was a charter member for the KDChi, Alpha Epsilon Chapter that initiated in Spring 2004. She most recently worked in the Veteran's Affairs in Houston, Texas where she contributed countless hours to helping rehabilitate veterans from all walks of life. Valerie is survived by her two children Kayden and Dora. She will be inducted into KDChi's Omega Chapter at our next National Conference in Orlando, Florida.

The following dedication is from a KDChi Alpha Epsilon Alumna sister and co-worker of Valerie's, Janisa Del Hierro, who wanted to share some special memories about her dear friend.

Today I honor the memory of Valerie Campos as a Kappa Delta Chi sister, co-worker, and most of all a great friend. I have known Valerie since the fall of 2004 when we both attended Baylor University. She and I were both working towards degrees in Forensic Science and spent countless hours studying in the library with other sisters and students. Our study group became our family and community away from home as well as a support group that got us through the struggles and challenges of college life. She told me the most hilarious stories and always made us laugh.

This award was given in recognition of an alumni chapter who has demonstrated excellence in community service, quality of programming for alumni members, and has demonstrated a commitment to the Latino community as a whole.

Licensing is an important aspect of protecting our national organization’s brand and image. By purchasing licensed products, you are ensuring that the integrity and ownership of our trademarks are protected. We strive to provide our members, friends, and family with a diversity of high quality products at reasonable prices.

There is now a new and exciting way to easily access these products is FindGreek, the new app and website. FindGreek is customized to Kappa Delta Chi, showing the best and most unique licensed products on the market. Both the app and website are easy to use, with many features such as “collecting”, “liking”, sharing, and making it easier than ever to buy your favorite KDChi products.

KDChi Honorary sister, Marine Major General Angie Salinas named Influential Latina in 2015

Dec. 22, 2015 - As 2015 is coming to an end, it’s time to reflect on the successes and accomplishments of the year. For many Latinas, including Gloria Estefan, Gina Rodriguez, and Ronda Rousey, it proved to be a big year, as they continued to show the nation and the world that we are a strong and powerful force to be reckoned with! Vivala, an online portal, tells the stories and shares insight of Latinas for Latinas, highlights six Latina Powerhouses of 2015 including our very own honorary sister, Major General Angie Salinas. Congrats, you make us so very proud!

Angie Salinas

photo: WikiCommons, USMC Photo

Angie Salinas has been a Latina trailblazer in the military for over 30 years. In 2006, she was the first Latina to be named major general in the Marines Corps — a title only a few women have held. She chose to join as an honorary sister of Kappa Delta Chi Sorority while attending and recruiting for the Marines at the 2013 KDChi National Leadership Conference in El Paso, Texas. But then in October 2015, she made the switch from a military career to the nonprofit sector, being named CEO of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. In a society where there is still a lack of diversity in the boardroom, Salinas continues to inspire and empower young girls. We are so proud of the work that she does for our communities and beyond.

To view the full article including the other Latinas listed click here.